FEDERAL ISSUES After many conferences, the People's Party, the People's Liberal Party, and the Austra lian Women's National League, have agreed to unite in the selec tion of candidates to contest the six Victorian seats in the Senate, should there be a double dissolu tion. Every member of any one of the leagues who is financial a month bsfore the ballot tnay vote. Nominations will be re ceived by each of the leagues, and will be forwarded to a central body which is to arrange fur the ballot. Probably the preferen tial vote will be adopted, and the pre-election will be a little later than the 23rd of March, the last day on which the nominations will be received. The concerted action of the three leagues is a long step to wards the solidarity of the Liberal Party, without which victory cannot be won- Whilst Labor has a cast iron organisation, under which it is impossible for two laborites to oppose each other at the polls, it is not enough that liberal^ should agree on cer tain genera...

COAL-MINE K.C. SPENT A YEAR UNDERGROUND Mr Leslie Scott, K.C., M.P., has often surprised both his colleagues at the Bar and litigants in coal-mine disputes ivlth his "inside knowledge." The secret o£ how he acquired it was revealed in the Court of Appeal on No vember 23, In a case concerning work in a South "Wales colliery, when Lord Justice Vaughan Williams asked, after a clear and lucid argument by Mr Leslie 'Scott: "Have you ever been down a mine?" "I spent a year doivn one before I came to the Bar," replied Mr Scott. Later Mr Scott said to a representa tive o£ "The Dally Mail": "When I was reading for the Bar it struck me that a practical knowledge of collieries would be o£ value to me in my future career. X knew a number of colliery managers at Wigan, and with thelj Permission I was able to enjoy a run of the mines. I have found the experi ence gained in that year useful on many occasions." One who knows Mr Scott well stated that as a young man he was always looking out for pra...

LOST IN THE BUSH. I Hp John Peters, 80 years, one of the earliest pioneers of Mitboo Norfcti district, had a trying experience on Sunday night. He left his farm (a mile from tho town) in the morning to go to his seoond farm, 3 miles further out. When it was learnt at i duslj that bo had not arrived at his ' destination, Constable Green prgafiisef} j SCavoh partioBj and practically all the I intervening country between tho farms "" ovot'. It was thought that a burning tree hau ?*Uon on «»., 1 busli fires had been raging in vulv country for a fortniglit. At 8 a.m. on Monday tho soarcliers oame on Mr Peters. Ho was very thirsty, but otherwise all right. Ho stated he had to leavo tho track to get around the bush fires, and got lost in a gully surrounded by dense sorub. Ho wandered about until nightfall, when he made a bed of ferns and went to sleep, He at times heard the searchers "coo-ee-ing," bub being weak, ho oould not answer loud pnousb fov t^yiu $ hwv Uiuu

SHOOTING STORY FORMER CHORUS GIRL. "I shot and killed Marshall Field, jun.." wtis tho rema.rka.blo statement made to the Los Angeles (California; police by Mrs Vera Scott, wife of a Kansas City muslfclan, who was ar rested on a eliargo of extorting £12,000 from rich residents of Pasadena and Loa Angeles (says tho New York corre spondent of "Tho Daily Mall"). After declaring that "all men are easy victims, and X have got money from them without any blackmail," the woman intormed the authorities 'that she used to be known as "tho mysteri ous and. beautiful Vera Jjeroy, the French girl who was mentioned in con nection with tho death of .Marshall Field, Jun." Mr Field was aged 37, and was tli" heir to a fortune of £20.000,000 when, h" died in the Mercy Hospital, Chicago, about live years ago, from the effects of bullet wounds which, according to the ^statements made by. the family. Yvere the result of, an accident while ho ivaa-examining a new revolver. Mrs Scott declares that sho is an...

V.R.C. AUTUMN MEETING. Now that we have arrived at the season of "fair autumnal skies, when earth'B ripe treasures meet admiring eyes," there Is a short truce in the never-ending friendly struggle between nature and man so far as rural indus tries are concerned. Work on the farm and station, though never at a stand still, yet affords a breathing space, and the annual pay-day, so far as rural producers' are concerned, having ar rived, a longing eye is turned towards the metropolis. So as to allow that happy combination between ibuslness and pleasure which justifies a little un usal expenditure, the V.R.C. comes forward with its usual autumn pro gramme full of rich things for race horse owners and the public alike. Country visitors and town residents alilio con I- duihi6 Llml flmt week in March, throw care to the winds and forget for a while that there are such things as ever-wrangling Parliaments, industrial disputes, or any other of tho thousand and one troubles that go to mar the p...

T I N V .B N T O R B Obtained m Commonwealth and Blae wliere for improved methods of Appli ances, Tools, etc., of any description Full Information, Costs; etc., sent on application to'* A. O. SAOHSE, O.K. AUSTRALIAN WIDOWS'/ FUNjD . BUILDINGS, Corner Collins and William St8., MELBOURNE. HIS OWN SON" DISCOVERY OF POLICE SERGEANT Station Sergeant William Alfred Jones gave evidence at the Wands worth Coroner's Court yesterday (says "The Dally Express" of December 2), at the Inquest on his little son, James Alfred Jones, aged eight, and told a. pathetic story of the way he learned of the tragedy. lie was on duty at Tooting Police Station when a boy came to him, and said a little boy had been run over by a motor-trailer in Mitcham road. He told the reservo man to go and see what it was. Shortly . afterwards a policeman brought the body to the statfion, and the driver and two boy'witnesses, from whom he took,, statements, camo into the charge room. . "I obtained a description for circu la...

TREASURE TROVE INQUEST SCHOOL/BOY'S FIND OP £60. Tho finding by two schoolboys of si bag of gold led to an Inquest by the St. Helen's (Lancashire) coroner yes terday (says "The Daily Mail" of De cember 17) to determine whether the money, £51 AO/, was treasure trove. Treasure trove is the legal expression for coin, bullion, gold or silver articles found hidden in the earth, for ?which no owner can be discovered. Evidence was given that on Thurs day morning, November 20, Reginald Thomas and his brother were crossing some waste land on the way to school, When they found the bag, made of calico, near some turf which appeared to have been pulled up recently. After giving sovereigns each to three com panions, they took the bag home. Mrs Lievesley was attending their mother, who was ill, and she was counting out the sovereigns in the bedroom when Mrs Thomas exclaimed, "Stop a minute. You are exciting me." Mr Thomas came in and took possession - of the money. The jury's verdict was that the...

NEW, ODD, INTERESTING. o Boys arc taught sewing- in some of the Chicago public schools. Eight millions sterling, it is said, are given away in charity every yeai . in London. The Greeks, one of the most 'intel lectual of nations, were distinguished for their small heads. A table composed of 8,200 pieces of wood gathered from every part of the world has been made for Mrs. D. S. Lewis, a Detroit curio collector. England has 11,500 ships engaged In foreign trade, Germany over 2000, Japan nearly 1000, while the United States has only nine ships so engaged. Birds, when perched on trees or bushes, arc natural weathercocks, as they invariably roost with their heads to the wind. ; . . ; ; Berlin is one of the -.most cosmo- ? politan of European cities. Though^ it is the capital of. Germany, only 37 per cent, of its inhabitants arc German by birth. Military authorities-. ... at. Zurich, Switzerland, have, arranged for peri odical-distributions! of free admission tickets to kinematograph show...

CHAPTER .V THE DEEP WATERS OF; MARAH. Agatha stood in front of her look ing-glass. . She had dismissed her excellent maid with the curt remark that sho could do her own. hair more becomingly, and this aftor Baker had given a good hour to an elab orate coiffuro; but nothing pleased Agatha that morning. Lady Clara Sacks was coming over to a quiet family lunch, so of course Agatha discovered that she was not looking her best, and. that) everything she. had in her wardrobe was hideous and unbecoming. ?Tho girl looked ill, and small wonder; day after day, night after night, the senso of her crime never left her, and she loathed and hated herself. She would like to have scourgcd herself sometimes, and had she been a Roman Catholic she would have confessed ere this and taken refuge in a convent. As it was she brooded day and nighfc over her crime, looking upon herself as having wrecked and ruined the life of the man she loved. "If I had not stolen his inherit ance Angus would be free of ca...

8end your Printing to the "Guardian" Office, Ail? ciq$!99 ef Wpp}? is best at lowest Qb^es, j PREMIER" LIVER V STABLES and LUNES RilLWAY AND CARRY j 1NG AGENCY Fraaer Street, Clunes; also Office at Railway Station, W. BABKEL.1L DESIRES to inform the public gener ally that ho has now tauea over the well-known Liver; Stables so loDg car1 ried on by his lata father, which will be conduotea in coDjanction with his busi ness as general carrier. | All trains attended. Conveyances of all binds on hire at moderate charges. I AGENT FOR I Broadbent Bros. aDd Co, | Permewan Wright and Co. McCnlloch Carrying Co, I Fhceniz Fire Insurance Co. I Mfc. Lyall Manures, I | " Globe" Creara Separators ' and al Dairy Requisites, | Webb BrosTWindmills, j j HAY STACKS" INSURED j Office at Railway Station connected bv | MMcwhon* ' : ( To Stock Owners of Climes and I District. | MR. GEOBGE WILLIAMSON has! boen appointed our AGENT, who ? will receive all pigs and other slock and con sip a them to us, and orde...

(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.) HE UNWILLING ADYENTORESS." By ALICE &amp; CLAUDE ASKEW, ...Authors of " Through a Woman's Heart," " Gilded London," Voices from Shadowlaad," " Tho Transformation of Althea," &amp;o. PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT. CHAPTER IV.-{Continued.) .-"If things were different, Moira," he atiswercd, gravely," "and if marriage between us were not im p.j.sS'blt--, fheiv it uo saying But «s it is, little cousin"-ho stopped hero and' raised Agatha's cold, tivmbling hand to his lips-"let me thank you for your sweet kindness and your loving thought. Heaven bless you, -Moira; you have made the world a better place for me, and re stored my old belief in woman." It was doubtful if Agatha hoard his last words, ardently uttered though they were. The sentence, "and marriage between us not im possible" was ringing in her ears, and would ring there for long days to come. She felt she k'new the reason for it, and spoke out the bit te'rne.-is of her heart. / "How deeply you mu...

fpDQQ{} (|Qap3iaQ $ TUB NOBLEST MOTIVE IS THE PUBLICGOOD TUESDAY, MARCH 3rd, 1914. .At the Qlunes police court yester dlV, Julius Sshulta appeared before Messrs W. Turnbull and P. Rowe j-PV on three' charges preferred against him by Senior Constable Hunter,,viz., first for being drunk m charge o£ a vehicle; second tor using obscene'"language; and third foi resisting the police. He was 10s on the first count, and 1JS each on the other two ; and -s costs. John Field was charged by Senior constable Hunter with vagrancy. The senior-constable gave evidence that on Sunday, 1st inst., Field called at the police st'ation with swag, and stated that he was sick, and hungry, and desired to give himself up. Field stated he was- a ?"nce Royal blood, a descendant of George III" He was going to get work in the country, but his legs disappointed him. The. senior-constable had com municated with the Denevolent Asylum authorities in Bajlarat, who were willing to take Field in. The defendant ha vine s...

A MAMMOTH LINER. The new White Star liner Britannio ?syas launched at Beltast on Friday. The1 new vessel is about 900 feet longhand 50,000 tons gross register, and in general features will be similar to the Olympic, with various improve ments introduced as the result ot the experience gained in that vessel. The Britannic represents the highest skill and perfection yet attained in naval architecture and marine engineering. Both in design and workmanship the element of strength has been kept steadily in view, and the moat ap proved structural arrangements sug gested Ijy the latest experience have been adopted. The cloybie bo^toni, extending the whole length qf the vessel, 5 feet 3 inches deep (increased under the reciprocating engine room to 6 feet 3 inches), the massive beams find close framing, the large shell plates, the Steel decks, the double skin and watertight bulkheads combine to make a structure of exceptional strength and rigidity. The vessel is fitted with the latest and,mo...

EDUCATING THE FARMER. Speaking at a social gathering held in tho Masonic Ball at Horsham on Friday night, Mr F. Hagolthorn, M.L.C., Minister of Public "Works, re ferred to the adverse mannor in which the proposer of the toast (Cr Phillips) had criticised the action of country members o£ Parliament in residing in Melbourne. Ho said that Mr Menzies, M.L.A., could not represent the constituency so well if he -were compelled to Jive 200 miles from Melbourne. With regard to the statement that it was unfair to ask re sidents to' give land for railway con. struction, lie could not agree with the proposer of the toast. That some might have to pay more than others lie was prepared to admit, but that they should pay for the land was a sound economic dootrine. Were thoy to go back to the old days when apple and orange trees had to be paid for at £30 or £40 each? Melbourne and other cities which had benefited by the railways should bear some portion of the cost, but the population in the countr...

SPORTING NOTES. " PAKEHA.") BOWLING. The final for the mayor's trophy was commenced on Friday last, but ?when 16 lioads had been played rivin put a stop to the play, the scores standing-Turnbull, 9 ; Jon kin 9. Both wore playing well, and evidently ?well matched. Those who intend playing in the Schwennessen trophy competition are requested to make arrangements with thoso whom they meet to play off as soon as possible, while fine weather prevails. On Thursday next the locals play Learmonth at the Lakeside. The matches with Learmonth aro always of such an enjoyable nature, that no trouble should be felt in se«ur ing a local team, which should leave not lator than "12.30 p.m.

WHITE ANTS. PREVENTIVE METHODS. The inquiries by a correspon dent on this matter are replied to by Mr Froggatt, Government Entomologist for New South Wales, who says:-" The food of these insects is wood or vegetable matter of all kinds, and the. wonderful instinct that enables them to find their way upwards through feet of clay or brickwork to the wood above is very remark able. As prevention is better than cure, the more perfectly the house being built is isolated from the ground beneath the better chance there is of keeping out the white ants. All floors should be raised above the surrounding level, so high that a man can get under the building and have access to the woodwork. In many of the cases where houses are badly damaged by white ants, the floor joists will be frequently found resting upon, or only a few inches of the Ground "In country bouses where timber supports or piles are used, thev should be charred or tarred, and if half a pound of salt be placed in each hole beneat...